Straight Razor
by Elira Lupa
Summary: "Throughout the years you've got little pieces of me, my very soul, and now? Now you got my damn straight razor!"  The story of the girl who saved him but also stole his soul. T rating to be very safe for future chapters. Please R&R
1. Chapter 1

_**Hey this is my first ever fanfiction so at the moment it's trial and error. This story is set before the Skulduggery Pleasant Books. Billy-Ray is my favourite book character of all time so I hope I do him Justice.**_

_**Disclaimer: The amazing world of Skulduggery Pleasant belongs entirely to Derek Landy. If Billy-Ray belonged to me, he would have his own book! **_

Chapter 1 – Electra Storm

Electra Storm woke with a start. Beads of sweat covered her whole body and her breathing was rapid and shallow. She checked the clock on her bedside table. It read 1.30 precisely. Just as it had read for the past week.

When she first had the nightmare, she paid little heed to it. Hundreds of years as a sensitive had taught her not to assume everything was a prophecy. But now she was sure that this was a vision. Every night the horrific images were waiting for her; Death threats etched on walls and furniture; a gravestone in a shaded grove; her body writhing in a pool of her own blood. A girl of about 18 with black hair and eyes so grey and full of light they looked like moons.

It wasn't long before she discovered the girl's identity and whereabouts. It was all about knowing where to look. She sneered as she reviewed her findings. When she had begun the search for her would be killer, she expected to find someone with some extraordinary adept power or at least a worthy opponent. She knew many powerful mages wanted her head for her past actions.

The girl she found, however, was anything but extraordinary. For one thing she was an elemental, a weak practise in itself; so limited. If that wasn't bad enough, this girl barely knew how to use her powers at all. How could a person so weak even dream of killing her?

Never the less, she was not going to take the risk of letting this girl develop her powers. The future was not set in stone and she, Electra Storm, could, and would, change it. But who should she charge the mission of killing this girl to?

There was no need for her to employ anyone too skilled. Even a mortal could achieve such a simple objective. All they needed was to be discreet and leave no trace behind. She didn't want any repercussions.

Her mind fell on someone who she had heard was in the country presently. He was the son of one of Mevolent's top assassins and his adept skill made him particularly efficient at accessing almost anywhere discreetly.

She picked up the phone and dialled the number. It rung twice before there was a response.

"Billy-Ray Sanguine 'ere" the American voice said lazily down the phone.

"I have a proposition for you Mr. Sanguine."

"And what sorta thing you proposing I do?"

"I would like you to kill a certain young lady for me. Come to my home in Dublin for

the details. My name is Electra Storm."

She hung up and waited. After about ten minutes, a low rumbling echoed around the room. She turned around to see a man in cowboy style clothing and sunglasses striding from a hole in the wall. As soon as he was fully in the room, the bricks closed up the hole behind him, leaving no sign he had come through.

"So where are these details you were talking about?"

She handed him a black folder which he briefly flicked through before looking up.

"And payment?"

"£5,000 in any world currency."

A white toothed grin spread across his handsome features. This had to be easiest task he'd ever been set, it was almost insulting. But Billy-Ray was not about to pass up a decent bounty. It was almost like free money to him.

"Leave it to me ma'am." He nodded curtly before allowing the stone to consume him.

Electra returned to her study. It was late but she knew the dreams would still be there waiting. It would be some time before the future re-aligned itself and the dreams disappeared completely. If Sanguine did his job then her sleep would soon be untroubled again. Until then all she could do was wait.

_**Hope you liked it so far and please R&R because I need a lot of help and constructive criticism with my writing. Next Chapter up soon.**_

_**Plalamh xx **_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Hey Billy-Ray fans. Hoping my story isn't too rubbish so far. I might be able to update too regularly because I've got school but I'll do my best.**_

_**Lemurqueen247: Thanks for the great encouragement and advice. I'm glad you liked it. **___

_**So here comes chapter 2 and the introduction of Katie. Enjoy.**_

Chapter 2 – Cat and Mouse

Katie dumped her suitcase on the bed and looked around the room. It was an improvement from the care home, at least but it was too empty and sad. House was devoid of any colour and everything about it yelled plain and dull to the world through a megaphone. Any appliance in the house was the cheapest and most basic model and the lights flickered feebly, straining against the darkness of the night that threatened to snuff them out.

She tried to tell herself that it would look better once she had settled in and that it was better that sharing a house with twenty other children. She was an adult now and with it came the freedom and responsibility she'd always longed for.

With a sigh, she sat down on the creaky mattress and opened her suitcase. Packed inside were all the items she owned: last season's clothes, a purse, some half heartedly made good-bye cards and a few books. The description of her eighteen years of life amounted to a pretty depressing sight.

Absent-mindedly, she pulled a small locket from underneath her shirt. It was old and scuffed but the engraving upon it was still clear to read.

'_The strongest magic lies within one's heart.'_

"That's an awfully nice piece of jewellery you got there," a voice whispered in her ear.

Katie spun around to see her reflection in a pair of jet black sunglasses. With a scream she ran out of the room and made for the front door. Suddenly, the ground in front of her began to crack and the man rose up in front of her. A fist caught her in the chest and she went sprawling across the floor. She clicked her fingers together and created a small flame in her hand but his foot stamped down on her wrist. She cried out in pain and shuffled back against a wall, clutching her throbbing hand.

"I really wouldn't try that again if I were you, li'l lady"

"W-what do you want?" she stammered, her mouth completely dry.

"Well there are a lot of things I want. A nice cup of coffee for example but right now I would be much obliged if you just sit there nice and still so I can kill you, go get my cash and coffee and we can all just go about our sorry lives. Sound good to you?"

A shiver of terror ran down Katie's spine and all colour drained from her face. She opened her mouth but all she could mange was a small whimper.

"Clearly it's not alright with you," the man began pacing in front of her, "but you know somethin'? You're real interestin' and you know why that is? You're not that interestin' at all. So you know what, I'm going to ask you a few questions before I kill you and you're gonna answer them aren't you, Katie Taylor?" she couldn't see his eyes but she could feel his gaze boring into hers. To her dismay she found herself nodding.

"That's a good girl. Now first question, oh wait, that's probably second question now. Alright, second question: Have you ever heard even a mentionin' of someone named Electra Storm?"

She shook her head violently.

"Alright, alright don't hurt yourself. Now, do you want to have a guess at how much she's put on your pretty little head?" When she didn't respond, he swooped down with his hands on the wall either side of her head. His face was so close she could feel his hot breath on her pale skin, "£5000 in any currency you can imagine. Now I don't know about you li'l darlin', but that's a heck of a lot of cash. And, I know what you thinking. Why the hell would someone I don't even know want me dead that bad?"

"Well for some reason, she has an idea that you, li'l Katie, are gonna be responsible for killin' her someday soon."

"I would never kill anyone. Look at me, I don't even know who she is!" she pleaded.

A grin appeared on his face and he laughed, " If you asked a bunch of psychos ands assassins, when they were young and innocent like you, what they wanted to grow up to be," she felt his fingers playing gently with her wavy hair, " how many of them do you think would have said killin' loads of people? Me being an obvious exception, not many. For all I know, you could be the next Mevolent in a hundred years. But hell, you don't even know who he is, do you? So what is the point of me talkin'?"

He reached into his pocket and in the dim light, Katie glimpsed the steely edge of a blade.

"P-please…"

"Sorry li'l darlin', but I got a job to do."

Her head bashed the wall behind her with such force it might have dented it. As her eyesight faded and blurred, she felt a strong hand behind her neck and a cold sharpness at her throat. Her world was consumed by darkness.


End file.
